The city of Dallas has revealed its plan to transform the downtown Farmers Market from a money-losing city-owned disappointment into a profitable, privately operated success.

The plan calls for amenities including restaurants, retail space, apartments, a band shell, a beer garden, miniature athletic fields, a community garden and, of course, farm-fresh produce.

The city, which has lost millions of dollars running the market, has been trying to find a private operator since 2010, but real hope didn’t take root until the Farmers Market Group submitted a proposal in May.

The plan involves selling a majority of the market to the group spearheaded by Spectrum Properties president Brian Bergersen, the developer of downtown’s Third Rail Lofts.

According to officials and documents, the plan calls for the city to sell three of the market’s sheds and much of the surrounding property for $3.2 million. That price is based on the fact the land will be deed-restricted to the group’s proposal for a new, improved market.

The city would retain a single piece of the existing market: Shed 1, where local farmers sell their produce.

The group would lease the shed from the city for $30,000 annually and rent space to farmers. The city would keep a percentage of sales from the shed.

The city plans to upgrade streets and sidewalks in the area with $5.5 million in bond money set aside for market improvements.

“I believe in this project,” said Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans, who will brief the City Council on the plan Wednesday. “This development will provide growth, moving downtown southerly and easterly to help complement the growth that’s occurring on the northern side of downtown. This will anchor the southeast portion of downtown and create growth all around it — to the Cedars and perhaps even the Fair Park area.”

Evans pointed to other efforts, including plans to bring more police to the area (the Police Athletic League will move to nearby 515 Park Ave.) and to move the front entrance of The Bridge homeless recovery center away from the market.

The Farmers Market Group proposes overhauling the market to the point that it wouldn’t be recognizable in two or three years.

Sheds 3 and 4, which are empty now, would be razed to make way for a 240-unit apartment complex with ground-level retail and restaurants and underground parking. A building on Taylor Street, which already is owned by Spectrum, would be removed to make way for more restaurants, a band shell and a roof-top deck.

Shed 2 — now an enclosed food court anchored by Pecan Lodge barbecue and La Popular Tamale House — would remain. But it’s unclear how many current tenants would stay, or how they would be arranged in a renovated and upgraded shed. There might even be a second level added, which could increase usable space by 25 percent.

The existing administration building would remain, but its use would change. The Farmers Market Group hopes to convert it to a cooking school.

City documents show the project would cost $64.3 million, with the group contributing $26.3 million in equity. The only money the Farmers Market Group would get from the city would be $670,000 in a Public Private Partnership Grant, as well as $15 million out of the expanded Farmers Market Tax Increment Finance District.

Because of the new plan, the TIF also would include Dallas County, which would add $4.3 million for the project.

Officials note that the land isn’t on the tax rolls now, so putting it in the hands of a private owner could add millions of dollars to the city’s coffers. And documents show the Farmers Market has lost $3.7 million over the last six fiscal years.

As far as Bergersen is concerned, that’s only because the Farmers Market doesn’t offer what the city wants or what downtown needs.

“There’s a huge trend nationally for farmers markets and local-grown produce and organic produce,” he said. “That’s what excited me about it. … It could be such a great amenity for the city. When you look at it, everything’s there, but it needs work and needs somebody to take it to where it needs to go.”

Officials hope the council will approve a master agreement with the Farmers Market Group on Feb. 27, with the group taking possession of the market by July 1. But city officials don’t expect the project to be completed for two to four years.